adams



(No Model.)

L. R. SPALDING & G. F. ADAMS.

FOOT GUARD.

Patented Mar. 22, 1887.

ll mw J 9 S w ma w i Lithographer, Washmglnn. o c.

UNITED STATES PATE LEANDER It. SPALDING AND GEORGE F. ADAMS, OF NASHUA, N. H.

FOOT-GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,899, dated March 22, 1887.

Application filed January 14, 1887. Serial No. 22433.

To (LZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that we, LEANDER R. SPALDING and GEORGE F. ADAMS, citizens of the United States, residing at Nashua, in the county of Hillsborongh and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Foot-Guards forRailway'Frogs; and we do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to understand it.

Our invention relates to that class of devices intended to prevent the loss of life or limb of the operatives upon our railways.

The object of our invention is to provide a safe and convenient foot-guard for those portionsofrailway-frogs,guard-rails,andswitches, which unavoidably, owing to the necessity of their service, present large openings between track-rails and guard-rails, into which the operators are liable to step, and from which they may not be able to remove their foot in time to avoid a moving train, and thereby lose their life or limb. lVe attain this object by means of strips of metal placed vertically as to their width in the dangerous openings, these metal plates being held in place by brackets which extend into the throat of the rail, so as to prevent their being lifted from their place, and by being further bolted to a rail or to the roadbed, as may be most convenient. \Ve further provide our foot-guards with spring-brackets in places where they are liable to lateral side displacement from the action of the flange of a car-wheel. lVe attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a rail-frog with our footgnards in place. Fig. 2 shows a cast-iron frog with our foot-guards in place. Fig. 3 is the foot-guard G removed from the rail and enlarged so as the better to show its construction. Fig. at is a rear view of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section of Fig. 1 on line a: :0. Fig. 6 is a section of Fig. 1 on line a) x.

As the rail-frog, Fig.1, and the cast-iron frog, Fig. 2, are familiar to all, and are in con stant use all over the country, we will not enter intoa description of them.

.In the drawings, A represents, in Figs. 1 and 2 the rails over which a car may pass, and B (No model.)

shows parts of rails which are used as guard rails. O is a lefthand and D a right-hand foot-guard to be used in a rail-frog. E is a foot-guard extending from the point in Fig. 1 forward. F is a foot-guard in the rear of the point in the same figure. G is a foot-guard extending in the rear of, and H is a footguard extending forward of, the point in Fig.2.

The foot-guards O, D, E, F, G, and H are each of a construction best adapted for the service required in their several locations,and are made of strips of plate metal placed vertically as to their width between the trackrails or track-rail and guard-rail, and are se cured in place in a convenient manner adapted to the position of each foot-guard.

O, the left-hand foot-guard, Fig.1,and shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5,consists of a metal plate,c, bent at both ends, as shown by c and c, Fig. 3, and are of a width to bring the top of the middle or straight portion on or near a level with the top of the rail, the ends a 0' being made ofa less width to allow the flange of a canwheel to pass over them, their outer ends being formed of the curve and width of the throat of the rail, as shown at c, Fig. 5. The top of C may be bent in a direction from the track-rail, so that any whcel-flange which is imperfect in its action would not be liable to strike its end and so destroy the foot-guard,butwould strike the bevel of the bend and cause a lateral displacement of the foot-guard,which, through the action of the spring 0", would be returned to its place. Both the springs c and serve to hold the foot-guard firmly in place, their ends being adapted to the curve and width of the rail-throat, as at c, Fig. 5. The part c of G will preferably be placed against the guard-rail, as shown, making a continuation of the same space between the traclcrail and the foot-guard as that between the trackrail and guardrail.

D, the right-hand foot-guard, Fig. 1, is in most respects the same as G, and is made so as to adapt itself to the other side of the rail. \Ve also show it with the central part bent at both ends, as such a construction may be found desirable in some places.

E,thefoot-guard,extendin g forward from the point, Fig. l, is a plate of metal held in place at the point by springs c and e",and at its other end is bent, as shown at c", and bolted to the rail. This guard-plate e is of a width which will allow a car-wheel to pass over it,as shown in Fig. 6.

F is a foot-guard extending backward from the point in Fig. 1, and consists of a plate of metal, f, having the bend f. Its top may be on a level with the top of the rails, except at its forward 0nd,), where it enters into the throat of the rails, and at the rear end, where it is so cut that it may be bolted to the railthroat, as at f The cast-iron rail-frog, Fig. 2, requires footguards of a construction the same in principle as those adapted for use on the rail-frog, but of a slightly different form.

G, projecting from the point backward, consists of a plate of metal, the upper edge of which may be of the same height as the trackrail, its rear end being supported by the crossbar y, to which it is bolted, and at its forward part it is held in place by the springs and g".

H is of'siniilar construction to G, except that the plate It does not rise to the level of the track-raihas in the similar case of c, Fig. 1.:

In each ofthe forms of our foot guards shown we cut away such portions as are liable to be struck by the flange of a canwheel, as 0', Fig. 5. To the rear ends of the foot-guards O, D, G-,-and H we attach stays 1;, connecting the guards to the road-bed, preventing all backward and forward movement of thefoot-guards; and, as they are held from vertical and lateral movement by their own form and the form of the rail and their adjustment thereto, it :is obvious they will be securely held in place.

The advantage this form of foot-guard has over any other is that wherever practical the guard rises to a level with the top of the track-rail, that snow and ice cannot be forced down upon it so as to crush it, and that snow is easily cleared from-it.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Let track-rails or guard-rails and make it diffi'cult or impossible for a person to get his foot caught in a place so guarded, essentially as described.

2. A foot-guard made of a plate of metal standing vertically, having its ends bent and cut away so as to extend under the space 7 through which the car wheel flange passes and pressing against and into the throat of the rail and held in position by heavy springs, as.

shown by 0, Fig. l, essentially as described.

3. A foot-guard made of a plate OflDGtfil standing vertically, having one or both of its upper corners bent from the traclcrail, as at c", and securely held in place adjacent to a track-rail, essentially as described.

4. In a foot-guard for railway-frogs, the

combination, with a track-rail, of a metal plate standing vert cally, being held in place at one end by a spring or springs and at its other end by connection with the track-rail or road-bed, essentially as described.

5. In a foot-guard for railway-frogs, the.

combination of a track-rail with the guardplate standing vertically, and the stay-brace i, essentially as described.

LEANDER R. SPALDING- GEORGE F. ADAMS. Witnesses:

- J. L. CLOUGH,

J. H. PRICHARD. 

